


A Charming Teenaged Unicorn

by RhinosAreJustChubbyUnicorns



Category: Blurt!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-23 20:17:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13795515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RhinosAreJustChubbyUnicorns/pseuds/RhinosAreJustChubbyUnicorns





	1. Chapter 1

It had been a month since Milly won the presidency. And things were getting better at Brightside High.

The chess club had enjoyed the speed chess games timed by the basketball team's scoreboard for a little while, but that got old real quick and Milly finally obtained from the principal that the club be moved to another, quieter part of the building.

The combined show of the drama and flamenco clubs was a resounding success, with so much attendance that they had to perform for a second night.

Milly had brought a sense of unity at Brightside High. Jeremy was proud of her success, and they had become good friends. The previously almost invisible, but bright girl had become the voice of every student. She was the incarnation of calm and diplomacy.

Jeremy had signed up for the yoga club. He enjoyed the silence. A silence of the mouth and of the mind, which he appreciated a lot after the mall incident and the blurting episode. He'd been monitoring his diet too.

Corinne had tried to befriend Milly, but that didn't last. Milly quickly saw right through the popular girl whose only aspiration was still getting her own page in the yearbook. She'd been eyeing Jeremy every time they crossed paths, but he'd been ignoring her.

Richie was still the popular football jock, though he had gained a bit of humility after his defeat. Jeremy Martin still gulped at the sight of Richie Capris, though now he could somewhat keep his thoughts to himself again. At least for a little while longer.

That day in history class, Mrs McCann was going through the rows, handing back their papers to the students. The paper that Jeremy had refused to write for Richie.

\- "Jeremy. Very good!" said Mrs McCann cheerfully. A solid 'A'.

\- "Richie. I'll need to see you after class." Jeremy heard, as the professor was handing the paper to the student behind him.

Jeremy hesitated for an instant before he decided to glance behind him. Richie wasn't brushing it off with a smug smile like he used to. This time he seemed deeply affected, looking down, almost depressed. His paper was several pages, and he got a 'D'. It looked like he wrote it himself, so he had tried. Jeremy felt bad. Not because he had refused to write the jock's paper for him. But because of the struggle Richie was obviously going through.


	2. Chapter 2

\- "Hey Jeremy!" he heard calling in the distance as he was trying to start his car on the school's parking lot later that afternoon.

Jeremy thought he recognized the voice, but something sounded odd. As he looked in the rear view mirror, he saw Richie Capris running toward him.

That was the odd thing. First time Richie "Sunbeam Eyes" got his name right.

\- "I need to talk with you. There's something I need to ask."

\- "Y-Yeah sure, what is it?"

\- "Not here. Let's go to Cafe Diem?"

\- "Now?"

\- "If you're available."

Richie smiled. Damn, he gave him that look again. It was irresistible.

\- "Hop in."

\- "Thanks."

Without a word, Richie popped open the hood of the car, and fiddled with the cables.

\- "Try again?" Richie shouted from under the hood.

Jeremy turned the ignition and the engine started instantly. Richie closed the hood, smiled to Jeremy as he went around and threw himself in the passenger seat.

\- "How'd you do that?" Jeremy asked.

\- "You need your battery terminals cleaned up."

* * *

Cafe Diem was busy that afternoon. But they managed to find seats at the bar.

\- "Sorry for the short notice. At least we won't bump into anyone from the team here."

\- "Don't you have first football practice today?"

\- "Yeah i do but I called in sick."

Jeremy was puzzled. He had never seen Richie so serious and concerned. He was the football team captain, always playing it cool. And skipping practice? Damn, something was definitely off.

\- "Look I'm sorry about your paper." Jeremy said breaking the silence.

\- "No man, I'm sorry for trying that shit with you. That was dumb. I was dumb. You were right to snap at me." Richie replied. "That made me realize I had to write it myself. And I did. But it was too late. I spent the whole weekend writing. Still got a 'D'."

\- "I don't get it, why do you even care about failing that history class? You have football."

Richie looked around nervously. Leaned closer to Jeremy and lowered his voice like he was afraid someone would overhear.

\- "That's the thing. I'm not playing football this semester."

\- "W-what? Why not?"

\- "I haven't told the team yet, but I had this stupid accident during summer break."

\- "You look fine to me." Jeremy replied.

\- "I am. I mean I can walk and do most stuff normally and it doesn't hurt that much anymore. But if I put any kind of stress on my ankle while it's still healing, I can say goodbye to football. Forever."

\- "Oh wow. I had no idea."

\- "The thing is Mrs McCann offered to bump me to a 'C' if I wrote a short paper on the American Revolution. But it needs to be decent. And it's due in two weeks. I want to write it myself. But every time I start reading about that stuff I just doze off after a few lines. I need someone to help me keeping at it. Will you help me?"

Jeremy was stunned. Of course he wanted to help Richie do the right thing. And spending time alone with Richie Capris? Was that even a question.

\- "Will I? I mean sure! Of course I will!"

\- "Jer-bear, you're my savior, man!"

Jeremy visibly blushed as Richie gave him a friendly tap on the shoulder.

\- "Sunbeam eyes", Jeremy thought.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Jeremy and Richie agreed to do their first studying session together on Saturday afternoon at Jeremy's. The time couldn't be more perfect as Victoria had landed a big audition out of state, and the parents would accompany her there. Jeremy would have the house to himself all weekend!

To say Jeremy was nervous would be an understatement. He tidied up his room, cleaned the furniture, vacuumed the carpet, picked up every dirty sock under the bed. He made sure every thing would look perfect. He spent the most part of an hour in front of the bathroom mirror combing his hair, trying to find a new style that would look cool on him, only to end up combing them as usual.

* * *

\- "Second place Regional Spelling Bee Championship 2013? Way to go, man!" Richie observed as Jeremy was giving him the tour of his room.

\- "Yeah, you could say I'm kind of a nerd."

\- "Don't say that, dude. I mean, nothing wrong with being one."

No matter how long they'd been hanging out, Richie's presence was still turning Jeremy's legs into jelly. Jeremy only managed to calm his nerves when they started working on his favorite subject: history. That was the thing he was comfortable with, not standing awkwardly in front of Richie Capris at the mercy of his eyes. Those sunbeam eyes that sent Jeremy's heart racing every, single, time.

They studied for the most part of the afternoon and well into the evening, taking a few snack breaks now and then. And without them even noticing, the night had fallen.

\- "... and that's when Washington resigned as Commander."

\- "Wow. Damn dude. I think I'm starting to get it. My brain is getting full tho. So many facts to remember."

Richie got up from his chair and stretched his body, letting out a moan.

\- "Do you mind if I ..." Richie asked, pointing at the bed.

\- "Oh no. Of course. Not at all." Jeremy replied.

\- "Thanks."

Richie lied down on the bed, on his back, his arms above his head, letting out a deep sigh.

There was a long silence. Jeremy was sitting at the desk awkwardly, looking around the room, his mind trying to figure out something to say to break the silence. He was worried Richie would fall asleep. He was trying to avoid staring at Richie until he noticed the jock's exposed lower abs.

Jeremy gulped and his lips parted.

\- "What's that thing?" Richie suddenly asked pointing in the direction of the window, startling Jeremy out of his thoughts.

\- "Hmm? ... Oh. A telescope?"

\- "Right, I didn't recognize it from here."

Richie stood up, his curiosity peeked, and started fiddling cautiously with the apparatus.

\- "Any nice neighbor girl to gaze upon?" Richie joked, looking through the eyepiece and pointing the telescope at nearby houses.

Jeremy scoffed and joined Richie near the window.

\- "I'm more interested by what's in the sky." Jeremy replied, seizing the eyepiece from Richie and pointing the telescope back up.

\- "And to answer your question: No, I swear the neighborhood is only old ladies." he continued.

Richie chuckled. Jeremy made a few adjustments and locked the telescope in place.

\- "Care to take a look?" Jeremy offered.

\- "Sure!"

 - "Wait!" Jeremy interrupted, before he reached out to the desk lamp and turned it off, plunging the room into darkness "You need your vision to get used to the dark first."

That was a smart move on Jeremy's part, being close to Richie without risking exposure to the sunbeam eyes.

\- "Wow, man. Is that even real?" Richie was in awe. "That's trippy. I didn't know you could see Mars' rings with such a small telescope!"

\- "That's Saturn."

They were standing close to each other, taking turns looking through the eyepiece as Jeremy aimed at different parts of the sky. Their faces were almost touching, and Jeremy could feel and hear Richie's breath. It smelled like fresh strawberries.

\- "What's that orange glow almost everywhere?" Richie asked.

\- "Street lights. You have to go far away from cities to find a truly dark sky. From here, you only ever see the brightest stars. In the countryside, you'd see so many more and the Milky Way. It's truly breathtaking." Jeremy explained.

\- "You are really passionate about these things."

\- "Yeah." Jeremy replied shyly.

\- "I like people who are truly passionate about what they like. And you genuinely care about other people too."

\- "I guess."

\- "Thanks my dude, for tonight and for everything." Richie said as he laid his hand on Jeremy's shoulder.

Jeremy chuckled as his breath got shorter.

\- "Sure thing."

* * *

 

As soon as Richie had left, Jeremy let his body crash face first on the bed, letting out a content sigh.

He grabbed the first pillow within arm's reach and hugged it tenderly.

"Sunbeam eyes" he whispered, smirking peacefully to himself before falling asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

On Tuesday morning the following week, Jeremy was getting the books from his locker for first period. That was about the time Richie Capris used to burst into the school hall, and make his majestic entrance. But something was different that morning. The football jackets, usually chatty and obnoxious had stern looks on their faces and were muttering to each other.

"Pssst! Jer-bear!" Jeremy heard hissing from his side.

"Richie!" Jeremy cheered as his face lit up.

"Ssshhh! Let's walk." Richie motioned before he turned away and Jeremy followed him down the school corridors.

"I don't want to run into the guys right now. They're probably not in the mood." Richie explained as they walked side by side through the crowd of students. " I gave them the bad news yesterday. That they'll have to start the season without me." he continued.

"They'll be alright." Jeremy said, trying to be comforting.

"Yeah. So about the paper. Thanks to you, I have the chronology of events right. But I need help actually organizing my writing. Like how do structure that thing. Introduction, discussion, conclusion, you know that kind of stuff."

"Yeah, I guess I could give you a few pointers." Jeremy offered.

"Great! How about Saturday? My place?" Richie said, as he stopped near the classroom door, faced Jeremy and flashed him a smile. Yeah, that smile.

Jeremy's thoughts were racing at the idea of more face-to-face time with Sunbeam Eyes. He was both excited and terrified.

"Yeah.. Yeah sure! Let's do that!"

"Thanks man. I'll text you the address."

* * *

 Jeremy was getting increasingly nervous as he was driving, following the GPS instructions from his phone on his way to Richie's house. The neighborhood was definitely upper class, and Jeremy's car was a piece of junk.

"Don't make weird noises. Don't make weird noises. Please, don't make weird noises!" Jeremy thought, hoping his car wouldn't attract attention on him.

"Your have reached your destination." the GPS voice announced.

Jeremy looked in awe as he brought his car to a stop near a big house, almost a mansion. And of course the car's exhaust made that loud band right as he turned off the ignition.

The neighborhood was quiet, except for the dogs barking in the distance, probably triggered by Jeremy's involuntarily loud arrival.

Jeremy walked up to the front door of the large house and rang the bell.

The door opened to a shirtless Richie Capris wearing only a towel around his waist, his hair still wet and his torso glistening.

"Jerbear! My dude! Right on time."

Jeremy gasped at the sight and the books he was holding against his chest slipped from his sweaty hands and fell to the floor.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" Jeremy blurted out.

They both bent over at the same time to pick up the books, and Jeremy found himself practically breathing into Richie's neck. The football hunk smelled like shampoo and fancy cologne, and as he was kneeling, one of his athletic thigh peeked out from under the towel.

Jeremy's head was spinning, and he felt a little tipsy as he got back up and Richie handed him back the books.

"Th-Thanks." Jeremy managed to say shyly.

"You're alright man?" Richie asked a bit concerned.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm good."

"Come in, dude. I'll give you the tour." he cheered, grabbing Jeremy's shoulder to guide him inside.

The interior of the house matched the outside. Fancy everything. Large windows opening to the sizable back garden, a deck and a pool. Richie's family must have had a lot of money. Not filthy rich but living the good life. Jeremy wondered why Richie even bothered with public school.

They passed through the vast kitchen on their way to the stairs.

“You hungry? You look like you're low on sugar.” Richie asked as he grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and threw it at Jeremy who barely caught it, clumsily.

“Yeah, thanks.”

Upstairs, Richie's room was decorated with countless football trophies and pictures of his victories. The king size bed looked comfy.

"Don't mind me. Just set us up on the desk. I'll be with you in a minute." Richie said as he headed to the adjacent bathroom. Of course he had his own bathroom.

Jeremy was glad he had a bit of time to himself to gather his thoughts. He laid the books on the desk, but noticed there was only one seat. He looked around the room and spotted a chair in a corner, but there were clothes on it.

Jeremy was grabbing the pile of clothes to set it on the bed as he noticed a pair of boxers.

Sunbeam eyes's boxers... he must have had nonchalantly thrown them there before he walked naked to the bathroom. Jeremy was lost in thoughts as he pictured the scene. He snapped out of it when he heard Richie starting singing the Beavers' anthem from the bathroom.

"Come on Jeremy, you can do this." he thought, before he laid the clothes on the bed and took the chair to the desk.

Jeremy sat, opened the book at the page he had carefully marked, and tried to read the chapter to figure out where they had left off. But he couldn't concentrate, between Richie's singing in the bathroom, and the intrusive thoughts of his naked body.

He knew the words he was reading, but somehow they didn't make sense. Damn he used to know that chapter by heart. But his mind was elsewhere.

Jeremy sighed, defeated. He let his eyes wander to the side, towards the half open bathroom door. From where he was sitting, he could see half of Richie, still in a towel wrapped around his waist, combing his hair in front of the mirror.

“Damn, that ass” Jeremy thought out loud.

“You said something?” Richie called from the bathroom.

Jeremy froze. The blurting was back.

“No-no-no, me? Nope no-no..nothing. it’s all good, man. I-I was just reading.” he managed to blurt out, stuttering.

Jeremy forcibly set his gaze back down to the book. Trying to decipher the words. But he couldn't read English anymore.

Richie came out of the bathroom, still humming and whistling to the Beavers' tune, still wearing only a towel.

Jeremy held his hand on the side of his face to block the view of the shirtless hunk who was walking for the dressing room. 

As he was desperately trying to focus, Jeremy heard the rustling of a towel. His mind was screaming "No, no, no, no. Don't look. Don't look!" But curiosity had the best of him and he peeked through the space between his fingers.

Richie’s towel was lying on the floor, and when Jeremy glanced up, he was greeted with the view of the back of Richie's fully naked body.

As Richie nonchalantly grabbed a pair of boxers and a fit shirt from the dressing and was putting them on, he heard a loud thud behind him.

When he turned over he saw Jeremy on the floor. His chair tipped over.

“Jeez are you alright man?” Richie said as he rushed to the situation, grabbed Jeremy’s arm to help him back up.

“Yeah I-I’m alright” Jeremy replied.

“I wouldn’t balance myself on this one. Those chairs can be tipsy.”

“Yeah I figured.” Jeremy replied chuckling nervously.

“Shall we get started?” Richie asked.

“You-you.. you’re not wearing pants.”

Richie laughed.

“Oh. Right. Where are my manners? Hold on.”

Richie came back fully dressed, and although it was hard for Jeremy to overlook Richie’s powerful pecs and swollen shoulders through that tight shirt, Jeremy thought he could still manage if he didn’t stare.

“Alright my dude. We set? Need anything before we get to work?” Richie asked.

“Water, please”


End file.
